bad parent of the week: mum

I award myself bad parent award of the week this week. For not realising you were sick and nonchalantly taking you to the doctor for a check as you were extra tired and a bit cranky on Monday, only to be told that you apparently have ear infections in both ears. Which reminded me what a tolerant and happy little thing you really are, as all I had noticed was the extra fatigue and a bit of extra whingeyness when you wanted something I wouldn’t let you have (which was enough to make me want to go to the doctor to check, but I was a bit surprised, I was expecting the usual, ‘he’s fine’).. The new doctor who we’ve never met before kind of gave me a kinda funny look as he told me you had an ear infection and that you needed antibiotics, and that “you need to keep up the pain medication, that is probably why he’s upset” as I’d just 3 minutes earlier cheerily informed you “no blocks until we’ve finished with the doctor… and gee you’re a bit cantankerous today!” as you pounded on the doctor’s door in an attempt to exit the consulting room and return to the blocks you were previously happily playing with in the reception… So yes, the new doctor thinks I’m a bad parent who doesn’t pay attention to her child’s needs and treats his health as a bit of a humourous aside. Well, maybe that is a slight exaggeration, but that look he gave me certainly indicated he wasn’t convinced I was the best parent either. Suffice to say it was the end of the day, you were ratty, and I was a bit more scattered than usual myself. So maybe appeared to someone who doesn’t know me a bit nonchalant. When really I was just a bit tired and distracted….

health – an ongoing issue

Anyway, all good. You’re on antibiotics and you’re already getting better. Today you played independently heaps during the day, and it reminded me how good and easy to look after you are when you are 100% healthy…. Which reminds me, it seems such a common thing that all babies are sick for ages after starting childcare. My mother’s group doesn’t meet up much anymore as almost everyone has gone back to work, but we still email a lot, and this week one of the topics that has come up has been the relative frequency of sickness in everyone’s kids since starting childcare. So it’s not just you. Which makes me feel slightly better. Starting childcare is a sickness-inducing thing in most kids. Which I knew, but it’s still helpful to have people at the same point as us going through the same thing and talking about it.

today: climbing

So. No swimming lesson today (thought that I’d win bad parent of the YEAR award for taking my ear-infected child to a swimming lesson). Instead: naked playing in the sandpit while I weeded the garden. A visit from little E (who you gave a dink to on your little trike – the cutest thing ever), a bike ride with mum and a stop in the park on the way home…

climbing at the park

..

All good fun.

Love and kisses

mum

P.S. Another photo from last week: exploring at the State Library. I just let you wander about wherever, and this is where you ended up.

4 Responses to “another week has flown by… and bad parent of the week award to me!”

If it makes you feel better I once took RB to the docs (cause I thought he had a cold), only to be told he was one day off Pneumonia and if he got worse overnight to take him straight to the emergency dept.
Whoops.

ah yes, kindy- once they start, the snot keeps flowing! lovely to hear all about your adventures. how’s the signing going? hamish’s latest sign is helicopter as we are getting so many pass over our house here with the (previous) Indy car race this weekend- what is it called now? who cares.
anyway, keep the adventures coming.
ps sorry, in my books you didn’t even rate a mention in this worst mum category for that…

Helicopter is a good one. Since we live so close to the hospital we get a few a day, so oscar learnt helicopter sign and word (copta) early…. We are still loving the signs, though truly I just can’t keep up – now we’re just doing pretty much speaking practice for hours on end daily. Signs are good for the hard to say words though. Today’s new sign was “swimming”…. again, something I’ve been signing for months but oscar has just decided to pick up. Still loving the signs though, and it means more people in the family can understand him too as a lot of the words he says are only intelligible to me..